2 injured in Utah oil company explosion

By Geoff Liesik
The Deseret News

JENSEN, Utah — Two people were injured Wednesday after an apparent explosion at an oil field services company in the Jensen Industrial Park touched off a massive fire.

Fire crews from the Jensen, Naples and Vernal City-Uintah County fire departments were called to the fire at Adler Hot Oil about 1:15 p.m.

They initially identified the business to emergency dispatchers as "the RNI shop."

RNI human resources director Russ Cowan said the company had used the Adler shop for several years prior to building its own shops in the area. He said there were RNI employees attending a training class in the building Wednesday when the fire started. "There was a large noise and the building shook and vibrated," Cowan said. "Obviously they knew there'd been an explosion and they just evacuated immediately."

At least one person whom Cowan said was likely an Adler Hot Oil employee suffered burns to the face, according to emergency radio traffic. "We don't know anything about his condition at all," Cowan said.

Uintah fire officials said two individuals suffered minor injuries in the fire and were transported to Ashley Regional Medical Center.

Firefighters initially took up defensive positions outside the shop based on reports that there were propane tanks inside the building. They later informed dispatchers that they were going on the offensive and moving into the building.

A call to Uintah Fire District Executive Director Jeremy Raymond was not immediately returned Wednesday.

The blaze at Adler Hot Oil was the second major fire of the day in Uintah County.

Vernal City-Uintah County and Naples firefighters were called at 10:30 a.m. to Capps Auto Wrecking, 1448 E. 135 South. Fire crews arrived and found the building fully engulfed in flames. They began attacking the fire defensively from outside, protecting nearby buildings.

No one was injured.

The building was a total loss at an estimated value of $350,000, according to fire officials.

The causes of both fires remain under investigation.

Copyright © 2013 LexisNexis, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.    Terms and Conditions Privacy Policy